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Vegas Golden Knights James Neal (18) scores the game winner against Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) in the third period of Vegas' 2-1 win during the Dallas Stars vs. the Vegas Golden Knights NHL hockey game at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Friday, October 6, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)

James Neal and Cody Eakin returned to Dallas and lifted up their new team.

It was a great feeling.

Neal scored twice Friday, including the game-winner on an assist from Eakin, in leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 win over the Stars. It was a huge win for the expansion team, especially when you consider the city still is recovering from a shooter's attack.

Both teams wore Vegas Strong decals on their helmets, and the Stars players stood behind the Golden Knights players during the playing of the national anthem. It was a powerful moment, Neal said.

"We just had to come together as a team really quick," Neal said. "We come out starting against a tough team. Like I said, with everything that's happened and gone on in Vegas, this is going to be a point where we can rally behind the city and shed some light on a terrible situation.

"To win the first game was awesome. The guys played really hard. We did everything we could to win the game, and we did. It was awesome."

Neal was activated Friday from injured reserve, as he missed training camp because of offseason surgery for a broken hand. But he looked sharp on both goals and also when barreling over Stars center Tyler Seguin on a big hit. He helped Nashville to the Stanley Cup finals before being selected in the expansion draft.

"Yeah, ever since I was picked in the expansion draft in Las Vegas, it's pretty crazy the way everything's worked out," Neal said. "I started my career here in Dallas, so it was funny coming back here my first game a new team and a fresh start.

"It was great. I was excited. I didn't want to miss this one, so it was awesome."

It also was pretty crazy how it worked out for the Stars.

Dallas' season ended in disappointment as the Stars finished 24th and missed the playoffs. They decided to not renew coach Lindy Ruff's contract, hired Ken Hitchcock as their new coach and acquired big pieces in Ben Bishop, Martin Hanzal, Alexander Radulov, Marc Methot and Tyler Pitlick. That made Dallas the heaviest team in the NHL at 210 pounds per player and also restructured how the Stars played on the ice.

So there was a lot of anticipation for Friday's game.

"I'm just tired of reading all of the predictions and all of the experts," Hitchcock said before the game. "I'm ready to see what we've got."

What he saw was a team was a lot. Dallas controlled the puck and finished with a 46-30 advantage in shots on goal. It killed all seven penalties. It got a sweet power-play goal from Seguin. And it fell apart in the third period after goalie Ben Bishop was forced to leave the game with a cut in the head. Neal scored twice on replacement goalie Kari Lehtonen, who took the loss.

Bishop was hit in the mask on a shot from another former Stars player, Reilly Smith. He had a cut on his head and had to go into the concussion protocol program. Although Bishop returned to the bench, he was not allowed to return to the game.

Lehtonen was beaten on Neal's shot through a crowd, and then the entire defense broke down when Eakin was sprung with a breakout pass. Eakin drew both Stephen Johns and Dan Hamhuis to him, and then fed Neal.

"Yeah, just trying to be available for [Eakin] to get it over," Neal said. "Obviously, he had a guy on his back, and he just put it over there. I think it hit off my skate. I just tried to do everything I could just to give myself a chance to get it on net. I saw that Kari [Lehtonen] was down, so I just tried to get it up. I don't know. Honestly, it was just a great feeling, so it was a lot of fun out there."

In the end, it was not so fun for the Stars.

"It's a process, and we'll take it step by step," he said. "We'll find out how we look in these first two games, and then we'll go from there."